Published
20.10.2025 9:16:00

According to Deputy-Ombudsman Mikko Sarja, the equal right of children in prisons to free basic education must be safeguarded, and completing compulsory education must be possible for them. Their imprisonment does not limit these rights. The importance of this issue is underlined by the fact that underage remand prisoners and children who are serving a prison sentence are a very vulnerable group of children. 

The Ombudsman oversees the legality of actions taken by the authorities and inspects especially places where persons deprived of their liberty are held. One of the priority areas for the Parliamentary Ombudsman is the oversight of the rights of the child. 

The Deputy-Ombudsman investigated this issue on his own initiative. The Deputy-Ombudsman obtained reports from the cities of Helsinki and Vantaa and had inspections carried out in the prisons of Helsinki and Vantaa. 

The Deputy-Ombudsman welcomed the measures that the authorities have taken since then. The Ministry of Education and Culture and the Ministry of Justice have appointed a working group for the year 2025 to develop prison education. Among other things, the working group has been tasked with developing upper secondary education organised as prison education and examining the situation in the provision of education and training for children and young people of compulsory education age as prison education.

The Deputy-Ombudsman has brought his decision to the attention of the working group developing prison education and requested that the Ministry of Education and Culture provide the documents concerning the working group’s conclusions after their completion.

The Deputy-Ombudsman’s decision no 2971/2024 has been published (in Finnish) on the Parliamentary Ombudsman's website at www.oikeusasiamies.fi.

Further information is available from Principal Legal Adviser Piatta Skottman-Kivelä, tel. +358 9 432 3347.